The present invention relates to a vehicle body, in particular for railcars, having sidewalls of hollow light metal sections, in particular hollow aluminum sections, connecting a roof and a floor.
Vehicle bodies are increasingly being made of light weight metal in order to reduce the weight of transport vehicles, in particular rolling stock, so that greater loads may be carried by the vehicles. Very often, however, problems arise with the transfer of tensile and compression forces acting on the body while in service. These forces act mainly in the direction of movement, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. One of the features which helps accommodate these forces are longitudinal beams which are directly connected to the coupling facilities. Furthermore the sidewalls in particular are made of solid sections which run lengthwise the whole length of the vehicle. This enables the body to achieve adequate rigidity with respect to the above-mentioned forces; however, additional spars are necessary in order to achieve shape stability.
The object of the present invention is to develop a car body structure which not only improves the transfer of longitudinal forces, but also makes it possible as a result of this improvement to accommodate a greater load.